Sheet delivering mechanism for printing presses



March 19, 1957 R. w. REINARTZ 2,785,894

SHEET DELIVERING MECHANISMFOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed March 23, 19.53

2 Sha na-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROBERT REINARTZ MMWd ATTORNEYS March 19, 1957 R. w. REINARTZ 2,785,894

SHEET DELIVERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed March 23, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ROBERT REIN'ARTZ ATTORNEYS SHEET DELIVERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Robert Wilhelm Rein-artz, Augsburg, Germany, assignor to Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Numberg A. G., Augsburg, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application March 23, 1953, Serial No. 343,953

Claims priority, application Germany March 29, 1952 7 Claims. (Cl. 271-458) move one or more sample sheets from the pile of printed 1 sheets being delivered by the printing press delivery mechanism for the purpose of, for example, examining the quality of the printing, etc. When the press is running at a moderate speed, such removal of sample sheets can be accomplished merely by reaching onto the pile of printed sheets being delivered to the delivery board or table of the printing press. At high speed operation, however, printed sheets are delivered to the delivery board with such rapidity that the operator may not have time to snatch a sheet off the pile before several more sheets have been deposited. In such instances smearing, tearing, and general disarrangement of the printed sheets may result causing rejections, wastage, and perhaps even necessitating stopping the press.

According to this invention, apparatus is provided for temporarily holding a number of printed sheets above the delivery pile so that the operator can quite easily re move from the pile a sample sheet notwithstanding the continued output of the press and without disarranging the pile of printed sheets.

It is accordingly a principal object of this invention to provide apparatus of the character described for receiving and holding a number of printed sheets a certain distance above the pile of printed sheets being delivered by a printing press of the character described.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus to facilitate removing a sample sheet from the pile of printed sheets being delivered by a printing press of the character described notwithstanding the continued delivery by the printing press of printed sheets.

A further object of this invention is to provide temporary holding means to receive and temporarily retain a number of printed sheets while other printed sheets are being removed from the delivery board of a printing press.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such temporary holding means in a printing press in combination with mechanism for directing printed. sheets selectively either to be retained by the holding means or deposited on a pile of printed sheets on the printing press delivery board.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means for disengaging sheets temporarily retained by such holding means and for depositing such sheets on the printing press delivery board.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide means for depositing printed sheets from a printing press selectively in either a temporary holding mechanism of the character described or on the printing press'delivery ly released in known manner.

board without interruption of press speed or output and without objectionable derangement of printed sheets being delivered by the press delivery mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, the attached drawings and the appended claims.

in the drawing Fig. l is a side view of apparatus embodying the invention including a portion of the delivery board and sheet delivery mechanism of a printing press;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the delivery board and associated structure of a printing press embodying this invention; and

Fig. 3 is a detail from the bottom of pant of the temporary holding means according to this invention.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views thereof, the sheet delivery mechanism comprises a shaft 1 mounted across the press between the side walls (not shown) thereof. Mounted on shaft 1 at each side of the press is a sprocket wheel 2 carrying a chain 3. At predetermined intervals along chain 3 are sheet gripping devices 4-, 5 adapted to grip a printed sheet from the printing press impression cylinder (not shown) and carry it toward the sheet delivery board or table 84 in known manner.

Simultaneously suction grippers 6 move along the loop shaped path indicated in Fig. 1 by a dot dash line, a single suction gripper 6 being shown in Fig. l in three different positions. The suction grippers 6, as well as the mechanism for moving them continuously along the looped path in timed relation with the movement of the sheet gripers 4, 5 and other printing press operations, are of known construction, details of which have been omitted from the drawing for clarity. The suction grippers 6 include a slotted portion 19 for receiving the edge of a. printed sheet and perforations (not shown) through which suction is applied to hold a printed sheet in the slot 19.

When the sheet grippers 4, 5 reach the point shown in Fig. 1, the printed sheet carried thereby is automatical- Simultaneously the grip pers 6 are at their extreme right-hand position and receive in slot 19 the edge of the printed sheet released from the sheet grippers 4, 5. Such sheet is retained in the suction grippers 6 by suction as the grippers move back toward the left in the drawing carrying with them the printed sheet. As the suction grippers 6 continue to the left, the edge of the printed sheet carried thereby abuts against vertical stops 7 and is, accordingly, withdrawn from the suction grippers 6 to fall upon the pile 8 of printed sheets resting upon the pile board 8a while the suction grippers 6 continue on their looped path to receive the next printed sheet from the next set of sheet grippers 4, 5.

Depending from a cross bar 9 secured between the side walls 22, 23 of the printing press are two members 12 the lower ends of which include a shoe portion 13 and a slot 18. Also on the lower ends of the members 12 is a retaining clip 14- having a leaf spring portion 15 which extends through the slot 18 of member 12 and bears against the shoe portion 13 thereof.

In'order to remove a sample sheet from the pile 8, the vertical stops '7 are tilted into the dot dash position of Fig. 1 by the handle 16 aflixed to shaft 25 upon which stops 7 are mounted. When so tilted, they no longer engage the edges of sheets being carried to the pile by suction grippers 6. The top surface of the shoe portion 13 on member 12, however, is aligned with the loop path of suction grippers 6. Accordingly, with stops 7 tiltedto the dot dash position, the leading edge of a sheet carried toward the left in the drawing by suction gripper 6 will then engage members 12 between the spring 15 and the shoe portion 13'th'ereof and be stripped from the suction grippers 6 to be retained between the spring 15 and the shoe 13. A number of sheets will thus be inserted into the spring clip of member 12 so long as the vertical stops 7 are tilted away from the pile of sheets, thereby giving the operator ample opportunity to remove a sample sheet from pile 8 beneath the sheets temporarily retained between 13 and 15. The length of member 12 is correlated with the height of pile board 8:: to define adequate space between the pile board (or top sleet thereon) and any sheets held by the spring clip 13, 15 on member 12.

After the desired sheets have been removed from pile 8, the vertical stops 7 are 'moved again into verticalposition by adjusting handle 16. In the process of this operation, the vertical stops engage the edges of sheets ciipped between 13 and 15 and push them out of the clip so that they fall on top of the pile 8 and aligned therewith, and the sheet delivery of the printing press continues in normal manner.

Thus it will be seen that this invention provides a convenient and simple means for facilitating the removal of one or more printed sheets from the pile 8 without interruption of the printing press output and without disarranging or otherwise disturbing sheets being delivered to the pile during the interval when sheets are being removed from the pile. The number of members 12 as well as the number of vertical stops 7 is, of course, determined according to the size of the printing press and other conventional considerations. Also the exact distance of the shoe 13 above the pile board 8a (or above the top of the pile 3) can be varied as desired to give ample room for the removal of sheets from the pile board 3a below sheets temporarily retained by the spring clip 13-15 so long as the shoe 13 is aligned with the path of printing sheets being carried by the suction grippers 6. The horizontal positioning of member 12 and, more particularly, the spring clip 13-15 thereon, is correlated with the vertical stops 7 so that sheets carried by suction grippers 6 will only reach the shoe 13 carried when the stops 7 are in their tilted position and so that, when the stops 7 are returned to their vertical position, they will engage the edges of sheets held in the spring clip 1315 and push any such sheets out of the clip 1315 to fall in normal manner upon the top of the pile 8.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, itis ,to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet printing press of the character described and having a delivery board for receiving sheets printed by said press and sheet delivery means for carrying printing sheets to said board, apparatus for facilitating removal of some printed sheets from said delivery board during continued operation of said press and without disarranging other sheetsbeing delivered, which comprises in combination a stop adjacent said delivery board for releasing sheets from said delivery means onto said board, means for mounting said stop for movement from an operating position to a nonoperating position in which said stop no longer releases sheets from said delivery means, gripping means for receiving sheets from said delivery means when said stop is in said nonoperating position, and means for mounting said gripping means spaced above said board and adjacent said nonoperating position of said stop for retaining sheets in said gripping means above said board while said stop is in said nonoperating position.

2. -In a sheet printing press of the character described and having a delivery board for receiving sheets printed by said press and sheet delivery means for carrying printed sheetsto said board, apparatus for facilitating removal of printed-sheets from said delivery boardduring continued operation of said press which comprises in combinationstop means adjacent said delivery board defining a limited distance through which sheets can be carried by said delivery means, means for mounting said stop means for movement away from said delivery board into a nonoperating position, spring clip means for receiving and positively retaining edge portions of sheets from said delivery means, said :spring clip means being fixedly mounted beyond said limited distance to receive sheets from said delivery means only when said stop means is moved into said nonoperating position.

3. in a sheet printing press of the character described and having a delivery board for receiving sheets printed by said press and sheet delivery means for carrying printed shefls to said board, apparatus for facilitating removal of printed sheets from said delivery board during continued operation of said press which comprises in combination stop means adjacent said delivery board for releasing sheets from said delivery means, means for mounting Said stop means for movement away from said delivery board from an operatingposition into a nonoperating position, gripping means for receiving and positively retaining sheets from said delivery means when said stop means is in said nono crating position, said gripping means being fixedly mounted between said operating and nonoperating positions of said stop means whereby said stop means effects removal of sheets from said gripping means upon movement of said stop means from said nonoperating to said operating position.

4. In a sheet. printing press of the character described and having a delivery board for receiving sheets printed by said press and sheet delivery means for carrying printed sheets to said board, apparatus for facilitating removal of printed sheets from said delivery board during continued operation of said press which comprises stop means adjacent said delivery board limiting the distance through which sheets can be carried by said delivery means, means for pivotally mounting said stop means for movement away from said delivery board into a nonoperating position, gripping means adapted to receive and temporarily retain sheets from said delivery means, said gripping means being'mounted vertically above said delivery board to define between said board and sheets retained by said gripping means a work space for removal of sheets from said delivery board, and said gripping means b'eing positioned horizontally beyond said limited distance for receiving sheets from said delivery means only when said stop means is moved to said nonoperating position.

5. Apparatus for facilitating removal of printed sheets from a sheet printing press of the character described comprising in combination a delivery board for receiving sheets printed by said press, sheet gripping means for carrying sheets to said board along a predetermined path, stop means adjacent said delivery board defining a limited .distance through which sheets can be carried by said gripping means, means 'for mounting said stop means forrfnovement from an operating position extending into said path to a nonoperating position out of said path, temporary gripping and retaining means adapted to receive and positively retain sheets from said delivery means, .said gripping and retaining means being fixedly V positioned in said predetermined path and beyond said gripper means for receiving and positively retaining edge portions of sheets from said delivery means, said spring gripper means being positioned above said delivery board and beyond said limited distance for receiving sheets from said delivery means only when said stop is in said nonoperating position.

7. Apparatus for facilitating removal of printed sheets from a printing press of the character described and having a delivery board for receiving printed sheets and sheet delivery means for carrying printed sheets to said board along a predetermined path, which comprises in combination stationary gripping means in said predetermined path for receiving and positively retaining sheets carried by said delivery means, said gripping means being positioned above said delivery board in spaced relation thereto, stop means in said predetermined path ahead of said gripping means for automatically releasing sheets carried by said delivery means before said sheets reach said gripping means, and means for mounting 'said stop means for movement from an operating position eifecting said releasing to a nonoperating position in which sheets 5 are carried to said gripping means by said delivery means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

